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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

The Suffering Bastard Cocktail

AKA The Suffering Bar Steward, this slow sipper was concocted as a hangover remedy

OK, the name is a bit . . . unusual. But don’t let that put you off. Because the Suffering Bastard happens to be an exceptionally refreshing drink. Which makes sense, given its origin as a hair-of-the-dog remedy.

It’s a wonderful cocktail for a lazy afternoon by the pool or on the beach. And because it’s a fairly voluminous tipple, you’ll take a while to get through one. So you won’t be drinking too many of these.

Good thing. Because you don’t want to wind up with, you know, a hangover.

Recipe: The Suffering Bastard Cocktail

The Suffering Bastard was invented in 1942 by Joe Scialom, then bartender at the Shepheard Hotel in Cairo, Egypt (more about this in the Notes). Despite its lack of a Polynesian-themed origin, the cocktail often is classified as a “Tiki” drink—perhaps because one of the kings of Tiki, Trader Vic, later borrowed the name for a rum-fueled drink.

There are numerous recipes for the Suffering Bastard floating around. We present the version we like best (which happens to be the original recipe), but discuss alternatives in the Notes.

We got our recipe for this drink from Beach Bum Berry’s Beach Bum Berry Remixed. The Bum says he found the original recipe for the Suffering Bastard while perusing some of Scialom’s private papers, which were lent to him by Scialom’s daughter Colette.

This recipe takes about 5 minutes to prepare, and serves 1.

Ingredients

1 ounce brandy (but see Notes for variations)

1 ounce dry gin

½ ounce Rose’s lime juice (see Notes for substitutions)

1 or 2 dashes Angostura bitters

4 ounces ginger beer (see Notes for substitutions)

garnish of an orange slice, a maraschino cherry, and/or a mint sprig (optional)

If you’re not in the mood to build this drink in the glass, you can instead make this drink by shaking it: Add the brandy, gin, Rose’s lime juice, and bitters to a cocktail shaker half filled with ice. Shake for 15 seconds or so, then strain into an ice-filled glass. Top with ginger beer and add garnish (if using). Serve.

We don’t suggest using an expensive brandy (or cognac) for this cocktail. Something that sells for $15 a bottle or so should work fine. We like St. Remy for cocktails, but ask your liquor store what they recommend.

As for the gin, any name-brand dry gin will be fine. We like to use Beefeater’s in cocktails.

Our usual reminder: This blog is noncommercial. We don’t receive compensation for mentioning brands. We buy our booze with our own money, and recommend only what we like.

Many people like to make this drink with bourbon rather than brandy. If you want to try this variation, we suggest altering some other ingredients too: Replace the Rose’s lime juice with ½ ounce fresh lime juice (or a bit less; to taste). Shake the drink, and strain into a glass filled with ice cubes. And then add ginger ale instead of ginger beer—it just works better with bourbon (at least, that’s what our taste buds tell us, and we speak as folks who usually prefer ginger beer).

BTW, we tried at least 8 different recipes for this drink. As noted above, our favorite is the one we present here (with brandy, Rose’s lime juice, and ginger beer). Our second choice is bourbon with fresh lime juice and ginger ale.

If you’re making this drink with bourbon, don’t use the expensive sippin’ stuff—it would be wasted in a cocktail. We like to use Wild Turkey 101. If you want something less pricey, Evan Williams works quite well.

Many modern recipes for the Suffering Bastard replace Rose’s with fresh lime juice. This works, particularly if you’re using bourbon instead of brandy. But when making the brandy version, we opt for Rose’s—it just seems a better match.

As noted above, Trader Vic concocted a rum drink that he called the “Suffering Bastard.” But his cocktail was quite different from Joe Scialom’s—in fact, it closely resembled a Mai Tai. Trader Vic’s version eventually became so well known that many people assume he invented the name.

When Scialom created the original Suffering Bastard in 1942, much of the world was at war. Rumor says he served gallons of the drink to hungover British soldiers at his hotel bar in Cairo (they were stationed in Egypt to battle Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps).

This cocktail is sometimes called the Suffering Bar Steward. So how did that alternate name arise? Some commentators claim that Scialom originally called his drink the Suffering Bar Steward; later on, a patron in a noisy bar misheard the name as “Suffering Bastard,” and the new moniker stuck. Others say that Scialom named the drink the Suffering Bastard, but adopted the alternative “Suffering Bar Steward” to avoid offending patrons; eventually, though, the drink reverted to its original name.

FWIW, we’d vote for the second theory. But no matter. Most of the imbibing world now knows this drink as the Suffering Bastard.

After creating the Suffering Bastard, Joe Scialom created two spin-off drinks: The Dying Bastard and the Dead Bastard.

To make a Dying Bastard, start with the recipe for the Suffering Bastard, but replace the quantities of brandy and gin we specify with ½ ounce each of gin, brandy, and bourbon.

To make a Dead Bastard, start with the recipe for the Dying Bastard, then add ½ ounce light rum to the mix.

After World War II, Scialom worked for a while at the Marco Polo Club in Manhattan (it was there that he invented the Dying and Dead Bastards).

He later worked for Hilton Hotels, traveling the world as mixologist-expert for their various hotel properties.

Moping Melancholy

“Wow,” I said. “We’ve tasted 8 different versions of this cocktail. Brutal!”

“Sometimes we have to suffer for our art,” said Mrs. Kitchen Riffs.

“True,” I said. “And as Nietzsche reminds us, to live is to suffer.”

“But we owe it to our loyal readers,” said Mrs K R. “They’re thirsty! And they’re looking to us for expert advice! So maybe just one more variation?”

I'm suddenly very thirsty and think the name is awesome! These photos are fantastic and it look wonderfully refreshing. Love the addition of ginger beer - which I can't stand on it's own but it does mix wonderfully with lime. Lovely!

Hi John,Wow, this is so different! What information you have given us on this drink. I have never heard of this one, or the other various names. I do not think this one is for me as I really am not a drinker, especially beer. That I do not like at all. But I love the way it looks and such wonderful photos. Looks very refreshing, I am sure. Thanks for the drink and the info. Now if I hear someone speaking of this drink, I can tell them what I have learned. Hope that your day is splendid! Cin Cin....Dottie :)

Thank you for the welcome back! I LOVE the name of this drink lol! And I love all the ingredients in here, especially real ginger beer. Another winner to enjoy by the pool even if the night before was not rough.

I read the name aloud to my husband and he blinked several times before saying excuse me, hehe! now I think he is very interested. I know....... the things we do for our art, someone has to do it right? Another great post.

Can we change it to the Suffering Food Blogger and send over a double. :) I think I need a minimum of a half gallon - to start. :) At least I'd have a reason to be dizzy and know I'd earned it. This does sound good.

They always say that the best way to get rid of a hangover is to drink alcohol. At this has ginger beer to make you feel less guilty. :) Love how this drink goes from suffering to dead by just adding more and more alcohol. Never heard of any of them, but it sounds good!

It's happy hour in my office and I just sent this recipe with one of the bar guys to make me a Suffering Bastard. Im sure it is just as delicious and refreshing as your photos make it. Especially loving the addition of the ginger beer.... its my fave. Cant wait for it to be in my person. :)

Hi Laura, definitely ask for it next time you're out! But you might want to have the recipe ready -- but a lot of bartenders don't know this drink. They haven't suffered enough. :D Thanks for the comment.

These hair of the dog remedies are always cleverly named. I suppose because anyone who over imbibes is in need of a good chuckle (as long as that chuckle is not so loud as to hurt the head too much). GREG

Good on Mrs KR for taking one for the team! I love the name of this cocktail and it had me intrigued from the title. I have never heard of this 'remedy' before. I think my husband will need one of these as he has gone on a weekend away with the boys, skiing in Queenstown, NZ. Between you and me, I can confirm there is more drinking going on than skiing xx

The name is certain catchy! I am certain if I am dying I don't want to be dead with addition of rum, but what the heck. LOL It looks refreshing. Loving how the ice cubes have held little bubbles in the cubes and your photography is just gorgeous. Wishing you a super Sunday!

Hi Lea Ann, I need to check out your cocktail board! Ginger beer is really good stuff, isn't it? If you haven't had one, try a dark 'n stormy -- great drink that uses ginger beer. Thanks for the comment.

It was created as a hangover remedy, how very interesting. I was completely intrigued by the name. The ingredients are all so fun, I really love the bitters in it. Might have to just try this handsome drink sometime.

I have been saving this post to make sure I didn't miss, so that I could read it when I had time. Which actually I don't right now either, but decided to give myself a break. I've heard of the drink, but didn't realize it was really a drink. As usual love the history behind the name. Probably more likely to drink it with bourbon because I have that on hand, but I love Rose's Lime Juice---so that would to be a 'must have'. I associate Rose's with meeting my first lover in college. That means remembering being young. Aaaaah.